


Poisoned Flowers

by DancePrincess



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Blood, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/F, Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation Spoilers, Implied/Referenced Torture, Multi, Poison
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-08-13 11:59:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7976020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancePrincess/pseuds/DancePrincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two assassins, born in different worlds, meet by fate. Two flowers, both poisoned from the ground they took root. While Corrin's camp makes their way to the Bottomless Canyon, her army struggles to come to terms with a mysterious woman they picked up along the way. Her skin a dark purple, her body lithe and strong, and anything she touches dies...Beruka, an assassin working for Camilla, proves to be the key to this mysterious woman's happiness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Distrust

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fanfic here so I'm a little nervous ^^;. I had the idea for this pairing when I was thinking about who Hassan of Serenity would have good chemistry with, and then translations came out for F/GO's Camelot chapter and Serenity showed her adorable deredere side to the protagonist because he was immune to her poison and so she could touch him. The idea of Beruka came up afterwards, since she is also noted for her poison resistance in game. I'm probably exaggerating it a little bit, but that's where the foundation of this ship starts. They also lived very similar lives as well, among other things. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> This is also primarily a Beruka / Serenity fic, however, Corrin / Saizo comes up Chapter 6 and continues to play a role in the coming chapters.

There was much to be concerned about as the “Rebel Army” of Corrin began their approach to the Bottomless Canyon. It was more than likely that the armies of both Hoshido and Nohr would be there waiting for them, and it was also possible that Ryoma and Xander, the High Princes of Hoshido and Nohr, would do battle against them. The camp was abuzz with fear and trepidation. While they had picked up many allies along the way here, they did not know if the forces they had gathered would be enough if they found themselves under attack from both Hoshido and Nohr. In fact, it likely would not be.

However, even among these disquieting whispers, rumors spread about one of the recruits they had stumbled upon by chance. She stayed in isolation from the others, out of her own preference. She never let anyone touch her, and so far no one had been able to. Somehow, she was even able to dodge the advances of people who thought they had caught her by surprise. The way she moved, seemingly hopping from shadow to shadow until she was suddenly upon you, being caught completely unaware of her advance. Of course, the most interesting thing about her was the fact that she was extremely pretty, but looked as if she came from neither Hoshido nor Nohr. Her dark, ashen skin color was never seen before.

“She’s got to be a spy! I swear, she moves as if she’s invisible, just like those other soldiers! She could be here to assassinate Corrin!” One of the men spoke loudly as he ate, not caring who was around to hear it except for the man next to him, who remained silent as he ate his food slowly. The two of them, one a loud and bulky man from one of the nearby villages, and the other a green-haired ninja whose aura was one of peace and calm, would probably have never spoken to each other if it wasn’t simply because of blind chance.

“We don’t know about that. I think its pointless to shout such accusations around without having any evidence. She’s done nothing to sabotage our army or make any attempts at Corrin’s life. It would not do any good spreading baseless rumors around about Serenity.” The ninja simply got up after he said this and left, the larger man staring into his bowl of soup before shouting and knocking the bowl away from him, spilling the contents onto the ground. To not only not be entertained in the slightest, but to also be chastised was inexcusable to him.

“Is there a problem?” A tough voice said behind the man. He turned around to see, instead of the green ninja, the red ninja staring at him: Saizo. He almost instinctively backed away from him as much as he could. Despite his size, there was no way he could get into a fight with Saizo and live. The scar on Saizo’s face, covering his left eye, was burning itself into his head.

“N-no! There’s no issue Saizo!” The man stumbled over his words as he tried to keep his head above the water, so to speak. There wasn’t any reaction from Saizo, who just continued glaring at him as if his anger was not only unabated, but had roared even stronger at the man’s world.

“I’m generally not fond of the idea that Kaze and I aren’t doing our jobs well. Serenity, at this point, poses no harm to the army or to Corrin. We have no evidence what so ever that she’s a spy, or a hired assassin. Trust me, we’re keeping a pretty tight watch on her, given her eccentricities. I’m going to suggest a lot more strongly than my brother that instead of spreading around these false rumors, you put yourself to better use.” The man didn’t reply, simply running away from Saizo as if he was running for his life.

“You were way too harsh on him, Saizo. We don’t need to have the entire army in fear of saying anything.” A young woman said as she walked up behind him, with dark purple hair cut very short, which gave her a boyish appearance. Her armor was the typical Nohrian wear, as she hadn’t be able to get a new set of armor since leaving on her own, although she never really needed to either.

“I apologize Corrin, but we can’t have people spreading around rumors like that. We already have people from both Nohr and Hoshido here, and if rumors get popular, you’re going to have a lot of dissent on both sides and things simply aren’t going to work out. If you’re too soft, all you’re inviting is a knife in your back.” Saizo retorted, but remained respectful to Corrin while speaking. Not as if to justify his own actions, but to give a little bit of insight and teaching.

“I understand that, but we can’t also keep these things in check by scaring people. We’ll need people to come to trust one another. If we act with the idea of scaring people, no peace between the two will ever come to last long. But, I have no intentions of going soft either. You don’t have to worry about that.” Saizo didn’t responded, but simply vanished, his way of saying that the conversation was over. Corrin sighed a bit, feeling as if she was unable to get her point across, when she noted that Serenity was walking towards her.

‘Shit, she must have heard us talking. How am I going to explain this to her’? Corrin thought to herself as Serenity got closer to her, before stopping a couple feet away from her and smiling. The one striking similarity between the two was their short, purple hair, although Serenity’s was somewhat longer and just barely reached her shoulders. Everything else about her otherwise was different though. She never wore any more, preferring her revealing outfit, and the only weapons she ever carried with her were three shining throwing knives. Despite the fact that Serenity used them with deadly accuracy, they never showed the signs of time or wear.

“Hello, Corrin! What were you and Saizo talking about?” Serenity said with a wistful smile on her face.

“It wasn’t anything major. Just some information that had come up. But its been settled.” Corrin said, trying not to give anything away. She didn’t want Serenity to know that there were rumors about her being disloyal or that she was an assassin. Simply put, she hadn’t tried anything of that nature the entire time she was in the army.

“Oh, okay then. Listen, I was out picking some flowers nearby, but I thought I heard some soldiers. They might have been Nohrian, but I’m not sure. Use this information as you will.” Serenity walked past Corrin, seemingly brushing against her, although Corrin knew that Serenity didn’t touch her, and walked towards her tent. She looked down to see a flower on the ground, and wondered if it had been one of the ones that Serenity had been picking. But as she went to grab it, the flower began to shrivel, and go from a deep, beautiful blue to an intense and sickly black. Corrin stepped away from the flower, wondering how it happened.

“Must have just been because it was picked. Some flowers are pretty delicate that way. I hope Serenity isn’t disappointed when she sees them die.” Corrin walked past the rotting flower, not worried about it since it was already dead. Little did Corrin know, however, was that she was being watched. The light-blue haired woman clad in armor fit for a wyvern rider, Beruka, watched as Corrin passed by before walking out and collecting the flower herself. She too had seen the flowers fast degeneration and was curious by it.

She noticed a faint, purple residue covering the flower. She didn’t know what it was, but she suspected that it might have been some sort of poison. If it was, then it was definitely an assassination attempt by Serenity. Leaving a poisoned flower though…that didn’t make any sense to Beruka. If Corrin hadn’t immediately tried to pick it up, the flower would have died, and a simple search for the flower would have turned up Serenity as the suspect.

“Unless she wasn’t really picking flowers at all. She may have been consorting with Nohrian troops. I must relay this information to Lady Camilla at once.” Beruka said as she walked towards Camilla’s tent, her face unmoving as she considered what she was going to say. She didn’t know if the residue covering the flower was poison, per say, so she was going to have to wait and see if she could identify it. But relaying her suspicions to Camilla was tantamount to that.

After she left, Serenity appeared back into the field, looking intently at the ground as if she was looking for something. She poured over the field, her eyes glued to the ground. Not that she wasn’t aware of Saizo watching her from one of the nearby trees, but she had since grown used to his company. Even attempted to offer him some tea a couple of times, although he never responded. When she couldn’t find what she was looking for, she broadened her search, hoping that she wouldn’t find a dead body anywhere.

“This doesn’t make any sense. The flower I dropped is gone, but no one is dead. Surely someone would have…” Serenity thought on it some more. The only one who knew of her special body was her living shadow, so she didn’t care if he heard. It’s not possible that someone knew and they picked it up with gloves.

“Someone here must have a pretty tough resistance to poison, huh. Interesting…maybe I should be on the lookout from now on.” Serenity walked back to her tent, just to make sure she had counter all the flowers correctly and wasn’t making any assumptions on the matter.

—

“Thank you for your report, Beruka. I’m pretty glad to her that my suspicions aren’t unjustified.” A tall, well-endowed woman with long purple hair said. Beruka remained silent, but could see the distress in her mistress’ eyes and face. The idea that her younger sister would be the target of an assassination attempt was something that Camilla was all too familiar with, and something that she had hoped she would be able to escape from.

“Are you going to do anything with this information, Lady Camilla? I am more than ready to get rid of Serenity if you order me to.” Beruka stoically asked this as if it was the most natural thing in the world, but Camilla shook her head.

“No, I don’t think that is a good idea just yet. All we have at this point are suspicions that she could be targeting Corrin’s life. If she is, trust me, I won’t tolerate it and I’ll make sure that she’s the one that ends up dead. But for right now, we could be wrong. So, Beruka, what I want you to do is to gather some more information on Serenity. I’m sure that you can follow her around, correct?” Camilla looked at Beruka with an overly serious look on her face.

“Yes, I can fulfill that. However, Saizo is also watching her. If I tail her as well, what should I do about him?” Beruka wasn’t overly concerned about Saizo himself, but that he could undermine what she was trying to do.

“Saizo is a hothead but I’m sure he’ll understand just fine. If not…maybe you can use some of your womanly charms to get him on your side,” Camilla giggled as she got up and moved to the entrance of the tent, “I’m going to go check on Corrin right now and make sure she’s okay. I trust you’ll do a good job, Beruka.” Camilla walked out of the tent, leaving Beruka alone inside there.

“…womanly charms?” Beruka said, not understanding what Camilla meant.


	2. Suspicion

The tent that Serenity was staying in was not really much different from the rest of the tents in the army. There was a couple of large stains from what looked to be some kind of spill, but Beruka couldn’t place what it could be. The tent was pretty squarely in the middle of the camp, which would have made it hard for her to leave and go somewhere without someone noticing. But no one seemed to notice her coming or going, which was odd to Beruka.

“What are you doing here, Beruka? Interested in Serenity, are you?” Beruka looked up as she saw Saizo perched in a tree overlooking the tent. Beruka didn’t respond, but climbed her way up the tree, sitting next to Saizo. Her looked at her with confusion, before just trying to ignore her as he watched the tent. A long silence hung over the two of them as they both watched the tent, waiting for any activity from it.

“So, I take it you’re doing what I’m doing. Watching Serenity. Camilla doesn’t trust me enough?” Saizo said with a mild amount of scorn. Beruka simply shook her head.

“No, she gave me this assignment independently of your actions. She was concerned about Serenity herself. She has a vested interest in Corrin’s wellbeing.” Saizo chuckled and nodded to himself, before looking back at the tent. Beruka wondered if that explanation was satisfactory to him, and thought again about what Camilla meant by using her womanly charms.

‘Womanly charms…I assume that she meant I was to seduce Saizo? I don’t know how to do that.’ Beruka thought about it a little more before she began to lean onto Saizo. Saizo turned his head around and put an eyebrow up, but said nothing. Beruka watched his reaction and realized that it wasn’t working and pressed up further against him, placing her chest onto his arm. Normally in her typical armor this wouldn’t be possible, but because she wanted to be able to tail Serenity effectively, she was wearing much lighter armor.

“Beruka…what in the hell are you doing?” Saizo glared at her, before looking down at his arm. He wasn’t blushing, but Beruka quickly backed away, and Saizo just stared at her.

“I…apologize. I thought that you would be more okay with me tailing Serenity if I used some of my…womanly charms.” Beruka explained as stoically as she could, but she couldn’t help feel the slightest tinge of embarrassment that she had failed so awfully. Saizo looked at her, unable to put the answer she gave with the face he was looking at, before his eyebrows went up as he realized.

“…Please don’t tell me that’s something Camilla told you to do. Actually, I don’t need you to tell me, because I don’t think that’s something you would have come up with yourself.” Saizo went back to looking at the tent, and Beruka simply looked away for a minute, before she saw someone moving to Corrin’s tent.

“Saizo, did she leave the tent while we were…talking?” Beruka asked as Saizo turned around, seeing Serenity moving to Corrin’s tent. Saizo cursed as he quickly jumped down from the tree, with Beruka following him as they went to catch up on Serenity’s trail. Saizo had been momentarily distracted, but he didn’t know how Serenity could have slipped by him so easily in that short amount of time.

They moved closer to Corrin’s tent, knowing that Serenity was inside but not wanting to disturb anything going on inside. If this was an assassination attempt, that would surely mean that Serenity would end up leaving right in front of them, and that would be it for her. However, all didn’t go according to plan.

“Saizo, Beruka, you can come in if you want. Corrin and myself don’t mind.” Serenity called out, causing the two of them to look at each other briefly.

“Did she…” Beruka was about to say before Saizo nodded. He looked a little forlorn, but slowly walked forwards.

“Yeah. She knew. Someone, she always knows when I’m watching her. I don’t get it. I’ve been able to stay hidden from virtually everyone else…and yet with her its like I’m being obvious.” Beruka nodded. Since Camilla and Beruka were from Nohr, Saizo had watched them for some time to make sure that they weren’t going to do anything. Beruka especially, since he knew of her past as a trained assassin. Sometimes Beruka was able to tell when Saizo was there, usually when he decided to leave. But most of the time, he had an odd ability to elude Beruka’s vision. For someone to be able to detect him all of the time, it made Beruka think about what kind of skills that Serenity held.

Saizo and Beruka walked into Corrin’s tent, seeing Corrin and Serenity sitting at a table, with a tea pot in between them. Both were having tea, Serenity using a cup that didn’t match the tea set, while wearing a pair of gloves. Beruka didn’t think anything of it, but sat down next to her, watching her closely. She had a small, but amicable smile on her face as she watched Jakob pour tea for the both of them without a word.

“Serenity was giving me more information about the Nohrian troops that she had spotted recently. She had went back to the spot where she was picking the flowers and saw an encampment of Nohrians. She couldn’t spot who the enemy commander was, but she says it was a rather large group.” Serenity nodded as Corrin explained the information.

“Corrin, to be frank, when did Serenity do this? I’ve been watching her for some time, at your orders, and I didn’t see her leave her tent.” Saizo said, glaring at Serenity. She didn’t seem to be noticeably fazed by his glare, simply minding to her tea, before putting the tea cup down on a coaster.

“I do all my wandering at night, Saizo. That makes it very difficult for the enemy to spot me.” Serenity responded sweetly, although Saizo didn’t back down with his glare. Beruka stared at Serenity, wondering if she had any enmity towards Nohrians given her last comment. It wouldn’t be surprising to Beruka if she did; it was well known that Oboro, one of Hoshido’s merchants and spear fighters, had a severe grudge against Nohr.

Serenity looked at the two of them, before giggling. “I’m sorry if I’ve aroused your suspicion. Maybe I should ask you to come with me if I’m to go out at night from now on, Saizo?” Saizo shuck his head, getting up from the table without having drunken any of his tea, and walked to the entrance of the tent, before walking out.

“What about you, Beruka? Do you wish to follow me if I go out?” Serenity asked, staring at her. Beruka thought about it a little bit, before nodding. “It would do well for me to follow you. I wish to sure that Camilla’s suspicions are confirmed or disproved.” Serenity’s eyesbrows rose up in interest.

“Camilla? She has suspicions against me?” Beruka nodded. She didn’t know if Camilla would be happy if Beruka explained things, but she figured that it might make Serenity a little more cooperative…or careful.

“It’s mere suspicions, like I’m sure most people have about you, Serenity. She simply wishes for Corrin’s wellbeing over anything else. Do not worry, I will not stick a blade in your neck while you sleep.” Beruka spoke coldly, but Serenity found herself giggling.

“I’m not worried. If Camilla felt that she had any kernel of truth to her suspicions, she’d likely take my head off herself. I am going to enjoy your company though, Beruka. I may have found another flower spot away from the Nohrian forces, so I’ll be going there tonight.” Serenity drank the last of her tea, before taking her cup and leaving the tent. Beruka was left inside the tent with Corrin.

“I’m pretty upset. I can understand that Serenity seemed to pop up out of nowhere, but she hasn’t done anything. In fact, she’s been more than amicable and helpful when I need her to do things for me. But it appears that she’s arousing a lot of hostility and suspicion from others. Beruka, what about you? You are the most level-headed amongst the others.”

Beruka thought silently about what she considered, before speaking. “I don’t know if Serenity means to harm you. She doesn’t seem to be hostile, but I am not sure. But I think that she likely has highly developed skills as an assassin. Saizo and myself couldn’t keep ourselves hidden from her, and that’s highly unusual. So, I would be wary of her just like I would be wary of any assassin that displays that level of skills.”

“That makes sense. I’ll be more cautious from now on, Beruka. Speaking of that, aren’t you worried about going with her tonight? She could try to kill you when you’re away from everyone else.”

“Do not worry. Even if she is highly skilled, I do not die easily. If she attacks me, I am sure that I will be able to come back and report her betrayal.” Corrin looked a little worried at exactly what was said, acting like she didn’t expect to survive for long, but was a little relieved at Beruka’s confidence in this regard.

“I’ll leave it to you then. Serenity doesn’t typically go out with people, so this should be chance for you to get to know her.” Beruka nodded and took a sip of tea, watching Corrin intensely. Corrin shifted a little bit under her gaze.

“Is there something more the matter, Beruka?” Corrin asked. Beruka didn’t give anything up at first, taking another sip of her tea before speaking. “I think it would be best if I were to stay with you, for the time being. I don’t think this meeting will go unnoticed by others, and if Camilla comes by, she’ll want to know that you’re safe.” Corrin nodded, before pouring herself another cup of tea.


	3. Poisonous Secrets

As night fell, Beruka got ready inside of her tent. She wanted to make sure that she was ready for anything that Serenity might throw at her if she did get hostile towards her. She put on a set of light leather armor, dyed black, so that she could favor mobility over protection. A few daggers were stored in various places. She made sure that her entire body was covered with something, in case Serenity did use some kind of poison. While she was basically immune to most common poisons, she didn’t know where Serenity came from, and she might have had some kind of special poison Beruka had never seen. Beruka doubted it, but it was idiotic to not be prepared for such a circumstance.

She had just finished getting prepared when she felt that someone was outside of her tent. She opened the tent flap and saw a smiling Serenity standing outside, with a small basket in her arms. She backed up as Beruka walked out, looking at her and she laughed a little bit.

“Oh? You’re quite prepared for this little trip~. I apologize for seeming like I was intruding, but I expected you aren’t the kind of person who would go and visit somebody else. So I figured I would come and make sure you were ready.” Serenity’s gentle smile made Beruka think that she was being genuine. Beruka wondered if Serenity saw through the preparations and knew about Beruka’s worries, but she didn’t think she did.

“I apologize, but I don’t understand the appeal of flower picking. So I’m probably not going to be the most enjoyable of companions on this trip.” Serenity cocked her head, slightly confused at Beruka’s comment, before smiling again.

“Don’t worry about it, Beruka. It would be nice to get able to enjoy just spending some time with someone. Maybe you’ll find a flower you find pretty and you’ll pick it yourself.” Serenity started to walk ahead, and Beruka followed her, wondering about flowers. Did she ever find a flower beautiful herself? She didn’t think so. But she didn’t think it would be a big deal if she came back with no flowers in tow.

Beruka followed Serenity through a small forest, watching as she deftly moved around the trees and roots without once getting tripped up. It was something almost unnatural to watch, a slim girl who didn’t seem to be anything special being able to move through the forest as if it was a simple obstacle. Even Beruka occasionally found her foot stuck or stumbled on something she didn’t see, and it made it a little difficult to keep up with Serenity on longer stretches. Regardless, Serenity seemed to make sure that Beruka was always following her. A turned head, a coy smile, and a spring forwards.

Finally, they ended up at the top of a tall hill, looking over both Corrin’s camp and the Nohrian encampment. Beruka looked at the encampment, noting that it must have been the same one that Serenity found. It was pretty far away, so she wondered if it was truly the same spot where Serenity was picking flowers before. She was paying attention to the Nohrian troops down below, trying to see if she could maybe pick out who the commander was, when she saw Serenity come up to her. In her basket were several light blue flowers, and Beruka noticed that she had gloves on her hands again.

“Hey, Beruka, do you want one of my flowers? These are really pretty blue flowers. I really like blue, you know. It’s not a color I got to see a lot of as I was growing up, so I make sure to treasure it when I find it.” Beruka looked in the basket, and saw several light blue flowers inside of it. She was worried that the flowers were poisoned and hesitated to take one. The flowers remained as vibrant as usual, however, and Beruka slowly grabbed one, holding it in her hands.

It was a pretty small flower, unlike the flowers that Serenity had been picking before, and it looked like it may have just been some sort of wildflower. The flower remained vibrant and blue in her hands, not suddenly decaying like the last flower she saw. It made her feel a little safer than before. Serenity didn’t seem to be trying to kill her.

“You’re not one for words, huh? It’s fine, I understand a lot of people aren’t friendly with me. I try to laugh past it, but it still hurts a little bit.” Serenity got a little wistful as she walked back to the place where the flowers were blooming. This time, Beruka followed her without saying anything, and crouched down as she watched Serenity slowly pick some more of the flowers. She worked delicately and precisely, not damaging the flowers while making sure to take as little stem as possible. It was interesting to watch for Beruka, before most people didn’t take the care into such an activity as Serenity did.

Serenity looked at her companion, before sighing. “Flowers were also very rare when I grew up. I had a small collection of them. It was kind of trivial and silly to keep such a thing, but I did. When I got to travel…I collected all different kinds of flowers. But that didn’t last long…” Serenity stopped talking, looking at one of the flowers in her hand. She looked like she was about to burst into tears, memories that should have never been thought about again coming up and making themselves known.

“Serenity…I don’t know anything about you or the life you used to lead. That worries me. It worries me because it worries Lady Camilla a lot. A lot about you is something I can’t figure out.” Beruka paused before she was going to ask her next question. She had wondered about this before, but she had a good idea that she was correct.

“Serenity, I myself as many will now am not just a Wyvern Rider. I’m an assassin. I’m not just any assassin either. I’ve had to kill many assassins in my life. So I’ve learned when to pick up the signs of one. Serenity, as you an assassin?” Beruka asked, trying to be as blunt as possible in order to shock Serenity. Serenity’s face grew cold as she looked at Beruka. She was likely going to be found out, eventually, but without the ability to explain-

“You’re quite right Beruka, she is an assassin. It’s good to see your instincts are still strong, even if you are one of Camilla’s bitches.” Both of them turned around to see Hans lumbering up to them, a massive axe in hand. Beruka immediately pulled out one of her daggers, but knew that a one on one fight with Hans in this case would be deadly to her. He laughed as he saw Beruka’s attempt to defend herself.

“Don’t even bother. No matter how good you are, I’m going to be able to split you in two. Might as well anyways; killing a traitor is going to look good when I return back to Iago and King Garon.” Beruka backed away as Hans approached her, trying to find a path in which to get away. He wasn’t going to strike until she tried to make a move, however.

Serenity made a slight movement, and Beruka saw a bright flash of metal fly from her and strike Hans dead center in the eye. He yelled out in pain as he fished the metal dirk out of his face, it pulling out his eye as he took it out. He threw it away, roaring in rage. He charged towards Serenity, and before she could pull out another dirk and throw it at him, he had grabbed her by her neck and was choking her with one of his hands.

“You fucking bitch! Iago will make you pay for that. You’re going to be forced to remember what your job was, Iago will remind you very painfully, and you’ll be his little pet as-” Hans filth was cut off by a sudden gurgling noise as blood began to stream out of her mouth. Serenity seized on this opportunity and kicked him in the face, forcing Hans to drop to her on the ground as he covered his mouth with his hands. His skin was turning a blue color as he continued to choke on his own blood, before he suddenly fell over onto the ground, dead as stone. It had happened so quickly that Beruka couldn’t react right away, unaware of what exactly happened, before she turned towards Serenity.

“That dirk was poisoned, wasn’t it?” Serenity looked at Beruka with her dagger still drawn, and shed a single tear, before removing her gloves and picking up another dirk. A very faint purple sheen covered the dirk where her hands were, and she aimed at Beruka. She laughed dryly before launching the dirk at Beruka, who was able to deflect it, if only barely.

“I’m sorry, Beruka. I was hoping we could become friends, or something. A shared kinship between assassins, if you will. You were right. I am an Assassin. I was hired to kill Corrin. Are you going to stand against me?” Serenity grabbed another dirk, this time in both hands as she prepared to fight against Beruka.

“Your mission to kill Corrin. I serve Lady Camilla, who wants to protect him. Such a question is obvious!” Beruka charged at Serenity, swinging her dagger at her as Serenity easily parried the strike and attacked with her other hand. Beruka dodges the attack, already beginning to sweat as Serenity moved with almost inhuman speed. This wasn’t the speed of an assassin who looked as young as she did. This was someone who had lived a long time and trained for a long time.

Beruka was quickly pushed back under Serenity’s assault. While not strong, every attack was meant to be a killing blow; if even one of these attacks connected, Beruka knew she would die. But she was struggling to stay in the game against Serenity. There was no way to escape, and fighting back was not a real possibility. There were so few openings in Serenity’s attacks that Beruka could hope to exploit.

It was a lopsided match. Beruka, for all her skills and training, was unable to mount an offensive against Serenity. She could only hope that she might be able to find an escape route, but she was quickly being worn out. Keeping up to Serenity’s speed was immensely taxing on her, and her armor was becoming soaked in sweat as she found herself beginning to flag. Serenity on the other hand, had a face that was like a skull: completely unmoving and unfeeling, and not a drop of sweat existed on her body. Beruka parried an attack poorly, and Serenity took advantage of this, attacking her hand and knocking the dagger away from Beruka. Her gloves were cut, and the dirk just brazed against her hand, although neither of them noticed as Serenity swung her leg and tripped Beruka up, making her fall against the ground.

Serenity fell on top of her, smiling. “I’m sorry Beruka, but even as I am now, there was simply no way you could have defeated me. I simply am much more experienced than you. Don’t feel that you’ve failed Camilla, you fought valiantly to the end. Like a true assassin would.” A masked formed in her hand and she put it on, the mask covering her face but stopped at the point where her lips were. Like this, she was no longer the girl known as Serenity.

“But for you, your enemy was one of the Hassan-i-Sabbah, one of the Old Men of the Mountain. The assassins that defined all assassins. I, Hassan of Serenity, will end your life. Zabiniya…” Serenity swooped in, planting her lips onto Beruka’s as she gave Beruka a long, passionate kiss, as if Beruka was her lover and she was going to see her for the last time. This was always how she killed her targets, when she could decide. With a lover’s kiss, they would die happily.

Beruka punched Serenity in the gut, causing her to fall off. Serenity looked at her in shock, seeing Beruka’s blushing face. She looked flustered and shocked, although not more than Serenity was.

“What? You should be dead. No one can touch the Poison Girl and live. How did you survive?” Serenity spoke coldly as Beruka stared at her, blushing more before falling over. Serenity walked over to her and looked down.

“You…kissed me?” Beruka asked. Serenity didn’t understand how this was happening. Beruka surviving was impossible. Impossible. Impossible. Impossiblenooneevertouchedmeandlived.

Beruka stabbed Serenity with one of her dirks, causing her to look down at the wound. It was a sloppy strike and wouldn’t kill her, but the feeling of pain in her abdomen was something she was not used to and she fell down onto the ground, wheezing in pain as she put pressure on the wound. She couldn’t pull out the dirk, as it would just cause the wound to bleed even more, but she would struggle with blood loss if she couldn’t dress her wounds.

The two assassins just simply laid down next to each other. Serenity looked at Beruka, who looked at her. “Why don’t you finish me off, Beruka? Kill me, already. I’ve failed. Even if you don’t kill me, you know who I am now. No one will accept me.” Beruka looked down at her legs, and tried to get up, before falling back down on her back.

“My legs, um, won’t move. It’s probably your poison.” Beruka said as Serenity looked at her, before laughing a bit.

“The deadly poison of Hassan of Serenity…which would kill entire armies with ease…has only paralyzed Beruka from the legs down. What a joke.” The mask fell off of Serenity’s head, revealing Serenity with tears coming down her face. Beruka didn’t know why Serenity was crying, but Serenity took out the dirk from her wound, causing it to gush anew as more blood poured out.

Serenity was going to die. Once again, she would meet the Hassan of Hassans as she failed her mission and died by his hands. She simply waited for his sword to tear apart her soul and send her back to the Throne of Heroes…but instead of that, she saw a masked face in front of her. With a scarred eye. She felt herself being picked up. She looked over and saw Kaze picking up Beruka. The two of them had somehow been saved.

“Saizo…don’t…bother…” Serenity whispered out, before he shook his head.

“We’re going to bring the two of you back. There, you can explain yourself.” Saizo said coldly. Serenity looked at Beruka before the two of them were being moved into the forest. Her wound still hurt, but now she was only looking at Beruka. Her light blue hair.

‘I…can touch her.’


	4. Ephemeral Happiness

Beruka woke up inside of the small tent the army had sent up for injured soldiers. Sitting next to her was Serenity, her wound dressed with a thick section of cloth to keep her from bleeding out. Beruka slowly got up, feeling a lot of pain in her legs but was surprised that she was able to move them. A quick look around showed that no one else was in the tent at that time, although with the clutter that was around the two of the beds, Beruka assumed that it was Felicia taking care of them. Mostly because of the water stains that surrounded each bed, as if a basin of water was repeatedly spilled around them. Beruka tested her legs as she pulled them over the edge of the bed, placing them in the ground.

Instantly she felt a little dizzy as pain shot up her legs like lightning, causing her to grit her teeth. She flexed her toes and slowly shifted her weight onto her legs, being careful not to aggravate them too much as she lifted herself off the bed and stood on her two feet. Her legs were complaining in agony as muscles screamed out and Beruka tried to take a step forwards. She slowly extended her leg and placed her weight on it, but before she could swing her other leg, her lower leg seized up and she toppled forwards, crashing on top of Serenity’s cot. Serenity woke up with a start and saw Beruka laying on her exposed stomach.

“B-Beruka!?” Serenity yelled as she blushed and tried to push Beruka off of her, but her wound stung in pain and it ended up being a very half-assed effort. Beruka struggled to get up, all the sudden movement in her legs making them scream with a pain that Beruka had never felt before, and she felt her consciousness fading as the pain overflowed her head. She hadn’t realized that she had fallen on top of Serenity though, and Serenity finally lifted Beruka’s head and placed it down on her bed. The linens under Serenity were pretty much dyed a purple color and smelled faintly of lavender. Beruka realized what had happened and slowly got up. Her legs were basically screaming in pain, but she was able to very slowly hobble back into her bed, staring at Serenity. Serenity looked over at her, giving a weak smile.

“What the hell are you?” Beruka asked coldly, causing Serenity to shift her gaze. She had expected this kind of reaction considering she had tried to kill Beruka, but something made it hurt a little worse than expected. Before she could answer though, Felicia came storming in, looking flustered. What she saw was not two people at each other’s throats again, but two people in their beds looking at each other. Felicia was a little confused, before the tent opened again and Corrin went inside.

“I’m interested in that too as well, Serenity. I heard from Saizo and Kaze what happened last night. I feel extremely betrayed Serenity. I let you stay here, vouched for your conduct and quieted rumors about you, only to learn that you were, in fact, an assassin for hire. Hired by Iago to kill me, no less. So you better have a good explanation as to why you acted as you did.” Corrin looked furious, but found herself being pushed out of the way as Camilla stormed into the tent. She went to go grab Serenity, but Beruka was able to grab her hand just in time.

“Lady Camilla, don’t let your emotions get ahead of you. You can’t touch her.” Camilla stared at her as if she was crazy, but Saizo and Kaze nodded in agreement.

“Camilla, I’ve seen…whatever that is in action. Hans died…very quickly.” Kaze said quietly, as if he wanted to repress those memories himself. Camilla relaxed herself and Beruka released her hand, but Beruka could still tell that Camilla was absolutely livid. The act of pushing Corrin out of the way was not done in haste.

“I’m sorry but I just heard that Beruka was almost killed. So I apologize for being a little fucking rash and wanting to kill this bitch myself. Not to mention the fact that she was hired by Iago to kill my lovely sister. I’ll strangle the life out of the two if them.” Camilla yelled furiously, glaring at Serenity and the two ninjas, who shrunk back. Even the two of them didn’t want to mess with Camilla when she was truly angry.

Serenity remained silent, braving the storm of words and insult as if it was a sandstorm back home, when Corrin grabbed Camilla’s shoulder. She looked back to see it was Corrin, and finally relaxed a little further.

“I think there is more to this situation that this, Camilla. First of all, if she was able to easily fight off Beruka, she could have assassinated myself with ease. She didn’t, and it wasn’t for a lack of opportunities. I want to know why.” Corrin explained, but Camilla eyed her with suspicion.

“You think she’s going to tell the truth now? She lied to us before. Now you’re going to believe her?” Camilla retorted, but this time it was Serenity who spoke up.

“If…if you don’t let me die, I’ll tell you everything. The death of a Hassan is shameful…and dangerous.” Serenity said, looking away from Beruka as everyone listened to her words. Corrin nodded, and stared at Camilla, who after a little bit of time, finally relented, sighing loudly as she grabbed Corrin’s hand.

“Alright, but I’m going to have Beruka keeping watch over her, consistently, from now on. No more chances like this again.” Corrin nodded in agreement, and finally looked over to Serenity, nodding to her to explain.

“Bear with me, because this will be a long explanation. The truth of the matter is…I’m not exactly human. I WAS human, a long time ago. Relatively anyways. I’m something more like a ghost now, giving a physical form. It’s…complicated. Iago learned how to summon those like myself, and summoned myself using an Assassin’s dagger as the catalyst. If another Hassan had been summoned…chances are that Corrin would already be dead.”

Everyone was silent. They didn’t know how to react to this. The idea that Serenity was a ghost was something they didn’t quite get.

“Iago did summon me, but I didn’t like him. Unlike the other Hassans…I’m no longer as rigidly loyal as I once was. My life was hard…creating lives with people only to discard them at a moment’s notice…I couldn’t do that again. That’s exactly what Iago asked of me to do. I refused. He got angry and threatened to force me to do it. The relationship between myself and Iago, very simply, could have been defined as a sorcerer and his familiar. But he underestimated me. I cut off his hand, and with that, his ability to control me. That’s why Hans said what he did; Iago must have intended to torture me until my mind broke. That kind of person…I could never serve them.

"However…cutting off his hand also stripped me of most of my power. As I am now, I simply have the strength of a normal human being, how I was at the peak of my abilities. If I had my full strength…I’d probably have the strength of about twenty humans. That’s not really an exaggeration either. It would have been a no contest with Beruka if that was the case.”

Beruka positioned herself, trying to shift her legs a little bit to keep them from getting locked up again, and looked at Serenity harshly.

“Who are you? You keep mentioning the Hassan, but I’ve never heard of them.” Everyone in the room nodded at that. Saizo, whose lineage in Hoshido ran back through several generations, had never heard of them. Camilla and Corrin, who had the benefit of the entire Nohrian library of texts and scrolls, had never even seen the word “Hassan” written anywhere. Serenity blushed a little bit as Beruka questioned her, but took a deep breath.

“I am one of the Hassan-i-Sabbah, or the Old Man on the Mountain. The first Hassan founded an assassination cult, although it was something more of a political organization in reality, who raised and trained assassins. The legacy of the Hassan was so strong it founded the word "assassin” in all worlds. I was not just raised and trained an assassin…I was born one. I killed my mother as I was born, and my body was created to be the ultimate assassination weapon. A body that would kill anyone with a simple touch. I am the ‘Poison Girl’ Hassan…“ Serenity stopped talking then, looking away.

The room hung silent for a while. No one had a real idea of exactly to say to Serenity. Her origin, her life, all seemed too large for life. The group of Hassans…a body born to kill anyone with a single touch…someone who had finally tired of killing and destroying her happiness that she stood up for herself…

”…must you always live as Hassan though, Serenity? Now that you are here, now that you’ve been given a second chance at life, can’t you choose to live the life you want to now?“ Corrin finally said, breaking the silence in the room. Camilla seemed to be shocked, but Serenity just calmly looked at him.

"My own life? Don’t joke around like that…I’m a Hassan. I was never given the chance to have the kind of life I wanted to live from the very beginning. It’s a fool’s dream.” Serenity spoke candidly, but Corrin shook her head in disagreement.

“That’s not true. Whatever you were in that life…its over now. You’re in a completely different world now. No one is expecting you to be the same person that you were before…at least not anyone you were going to listen to. You can be who you want to be, and do what you want now. Surely you have something you wish you could have?” Corrin tried his best to persuade Serenity to think of herself.

“Something I wish I could have…well there is one thing…” Serenity blushed and tried to hide in the bed, but there wasn’t really anything she could do to get away from the piercing gazes of the others in the tent.

“What I want…is a true happiness. I don’t want to spend my life building something like happiness, something that I know has to end because I have to destroy it with my own hands. I want something that not only feels real, but is real. I don’t want to destroy my happiness anymore…that’s what I really want. But I can’t have it. I destroy everything I touch.” Serenity looked away from everyone else as she admitted the truth in her heart.

Normally she wouldn’t be so truthful. In fact, she was a very skilled liar and was able to deceive Corrin and company when they first met on things. But she knew that if she didn’t get any medical attention, she would die. If she died, the Hassan of Hassans would come to take her…and he could kill anyone who got in his way. She didn’t want that to happen to this group, who were simply doing what they thought was right.

…but she knew that was a lie. Even if the Hassan of Hassans killed virtually anyone in this camp, she really wouldn’t care. She was scared to admit the one thing that she knew she wanted; she wanted a life with someone who she could touch. A life with someone she would kiss. Who’s light blue hair, like the color of water, she could run her hands through. Someone with whom she could share intimacy she only teased with when she was a Hassan.

“You didn’t destroy everything you touched. Beruka survived your poison. There surely must be others. Maybe this poison isn’t as extraordinary here-”

Serenity shook her head. “That’s not how it works. It’s a poison whose record is already down…only someone with truly exceptional poison resistance could survive it. Even then…I wasn’t sure that was possible.” Serenity looked at Beruka. Beruka looked confused as Serenity stared at her, before Serenity winked at her. Beruka began to blush a little bit, before standing up suddenly, sending jolts through her legs.

“You can’t possibly mean me. I don’t know anything about how to live a normal life. Besides…you just tried to kill me.” Beruka was stoic as she responded to Serenity.

“I’ll be honest Beruka…I’m not sure I know either. But we both know our lives and what we went through…I’d be glad that even if it was only one person that it was you. So please…I want to just try it…” Serenity coughed as he wound irritated her more, causing Felicia to try and jump in to help her. She was gloved and carefully covered on every part of her body to try and resist the effects of the poison. It was working…for now.

Serenity settled down, and Corrin put a hand out to keep Felicia from getting to her right away. Serenity, seeing the odd action, looked at Corrin with heavy eyes.

“I thought you said you were going to let me live…” Serenity trailed off, but Corrin nodded her head in the affirmative.

“I think the only reasonable solution for this is to make sure that the only person who can take care of you is the one that won’t die if they touch you. We can start to work on an antidote for your poison in the mean time, if that’s even possible. But for right now, I think that Beruka is going to have to be your personal nurse until you’re healed.”

Beruka looked around as if this was some kind of punishment, but Camilla nodded in agreement.

“I agree. It’s too risky to allow others near Serenity right now. Besides, it might be good for Beruka to get used to someone fawning over her.” Camilla smiled evilly as Serenity felt a cold tingle run down her spine. The woman in front of her was really, really terrifying when she wanted to be.

“Lady Camilla, I’m not qualified for this kind of assignment. I’m a killer, I don’t spend my time healing the wounded, and the last time I touched Serenity I was paralyzed from the waist down. My legs now haven’t fully recovered, so if I touch her again and fall over I’d be useless.” Serenity giggled a bit at that.

“That’s not true…when you fell over on top of me you landed right on my stomach. You don’t seem to be any worse for wear, considering that my poison took less time to take effect last night. Your poison resistance must be something truly astonishing.” Serenity giggled again as Beruka realized that was true.

“I’ll keep a close eye on Beruka if you’re concerned, Camilla and Corrin. I’ve been shadowing Serenity for quite some time now and I think sticking to that job is the best thing I can do.” Saizo spoke up, and Corrin nodded to that idea.

“So, Serenity, here’s the deal. We let you live, you promise not to try anything else like that again, and we give you the chance to get the life you’ve always wanted. I don’t know if you’ll be able to have the happiness you want with Beruka, that’s up to her, but I’m at least offering you the chance to go for what you always wanted. It’s up to you to take it.”

“I’ll take it. Gladly. I don’t want to suffer anymore.” Serenity started to cry as she wiped her face off, her tears falling on the white linens and dying them a faint purple color. Corrin sighed, thankful that this situation was over.

Beruka, however, felt an overwhelming feeling of killing intent coming from outside the tent. It wasn’t just a wave, it was something more like a flood. She tried to get in front of Camilla, but with her legs still in pain she was able to do little more than hobble over to her when a large sword protruded into the tent and found itself stuck against Beruka’s neck.

“Would you really throw your name away as a Hassan for this girl?” A voice, thick as molasses and as powerful as a raging volcano, spoke. There were a few screams outsides as winds began to howl and sand began flying into the tent. Saizo and Kaze prepared themselves to fight, drawing their weapons, but a blast of wind hit them and blew them straight out of the tent, ripping a whole through the side of it. The got up, uninjured, and saw what the source of that voice was. Saizo backed away a little bit, his hands shaking. Kaze dropped his weapons.

“No…” Serenity whispered.


	5. King Hassan

Felicia screamed and fell on the floor when she saw the giant sword come into the tent, while Corrin and Camilla stood frozen, Camilla not but a few inches away from the blade itself. The winds continued to blow at a frenzy, sand pouring into the tent. It was like they had somehow found themselves inside of a miniature sandstorm, one that was battering the tent. The tent began to blow upwards because of the wind, causing a few of the spikes holding it to the ground to come loose and pop out. A whole half of the tent flew into the air as everyone, except Serenity and Beruka tried to entrench themselves against the powerful winds. 

Now, it was clear what was causing this. A giant figure stood before them, looming over them as winds and sand came out of its body and surrounded the group. It wore a mask similar to Serenity's, but whether it could be considered a mask or his face was unclear, as all one could see from underneath it was two, sharp, glowing light-blue eyes. He wore armor that was made out of skulls, some of them releasing a bright light-blue energy around him. No one could tell what the rest of his body was. Even Serenity did not know the true form of what stood in front of her. 

"This woman...she does not shrink away from my blade. Either she is capable of showing no fear...or capable of showing no intelligence." The giant said, chuckling to himself a little bit before staring at them again. He was waiting some answer from the group it seemed like. 

"Who ar-" Corrin began to speak, but immediately the winds began to howl even louder and drowned him out. 

"Silence. I only wish to hear from the Hassan-i-Sabbah and the one named Beruka. This matter concerns them, and only them." At that point, the sword that was aimed at Beruka's throat receded back outside of the tent, and the giant figure grabbed the rest of the medical tent and ripped it out of the ground, fully exposing the group. 

"Leave us. I will not be so kind as to tolerate another interruption again." The sandstorm around him suddenly dissipated and died down, and while there was still a considerable amount of sand on the ground, it didn't look like it could have fueled such a powerful sandstorm. Everyone stood their ground for a moment, unsure of whether to act or not. No one wanted to leave Beruka and Serenity alone with this thing, especially considering it had just pointed its sword as Beruka's neck. 

"Guys...really, do what he says. He's not joking around. He'll kill you if you stay. Just let myself and Beruka talk to him." Serenity spoke softly, almost with a pleading tone, and with that, Corrin grabbed Camilla softly and nodded for them to leave. Camilla gave Corrin a severe look, but ultimately, followed along, and soon, the only people who were in the area were the giant figure, Serenity, and Beruka. It was silent for a while, as neither party spoke. 

"Would you really throw away your title as Hassan for this girl, Hassan-i-Sabbah?" The figure spoke again, although not as authoritatively as before. He seemed a little calmer now, maybe even a little more fatherly than before. 

"I do not wish to throw away my title...but...having a peaceful, loving life...having someone I can love...its something I truly want. With Beruka, I can make that happen." Serenity spoke softly, feeling ashamed that she had to meet with her maker about this. To throw away her title as Hassan, a title that she had basically lived her entire life under, felt unspeakable to her. 

"A Hassan cannot have a peaceful, loving life. If that is the path that you choose, you will have to throw away being a Hassan. There is no option that allows you to be both." The figure said. Serenity shrunk away in the bed. Beruka stood motionless, unsure on what to say here. This felt like something that was completely outside of her grip. She didn't know if she could add anything to this. 

"Throwing away my title as a Hassan...would mean that I have to be killed, right? It's customary for that to happen, correct?" Serenity said, and Beruka shifted in her position. 

"Do you have something to say to that, Beruka?" The voice said, causing Beruka to freeze up. Even for Beruka, it difficult to keep her composure when there was a giant being clad in bone armor talking to you. There was something deep inside her that made her fear him, even though she tried to resist it as much as possible. 

"Is the only solution really death? I will admit to not knowing anything about your customs, but that seems...extreme." Beruka said, causing the figure to laugh a little bit. It wasn't mocking her, but seemed like he was somewhat amused by what she had just said. 

"That's true, you know nothing about the Hassans. They did not exist here. While we founded the term of "Assassin", you cannot really know the culture and customs of us. The Hassans are the leader of the Hassan cult; they represent the pinnacle of all assassins. As such, there are codes of behavior and such, but they really aren't that different from what you were raised up on. Except one. Even for Hassans, there is one that is above them. The first Hassan. That is me. 

When a Hassan finds a mission they are unable to perform, they come to me for assistance. This represents failure, that they are not worthy of the Hassan named that they earned. That would mean that by forfeiting their title, they would forfeit their life. Every Hassan that has come up after me has died by my hands. All but one." His voice tapered off towards the end, as he sounded much more solemn. 

"All but one...Serenity?" Beruka asked. The First Hassan nodded. Serenity looked away from the two of them. 

"That's correct. Serenity never came to me for assistance. While she is of sound mind now...there are still memories of her from when she was virtually broken. During one of her kills, Serenity turned herself in so she would commit suicide by execution. She chose to end her life because she had enough of destroying everything she had built. 

Normally, throwing away one's title would result in their death. But, I think in this case, Serenity has already done that. For the life that she wanted to live, she ended up killing herself. If she were to cast aside her name now, for her ideal, I might let her live. Out of all the Hassans, she was the one I felt the most regret for. She never had a choice in the matter, and so she never had a real drive for the positions like the other Hassans did." 

"Wait...you...wouldn't kill me?" Serenity asked, tears coming to her eyes as she looked nervously at The First Hassan. 

"Yes, but under one condition, and one condition only. I will ask both you and Beruka to do something. If I find that either of you fail to commit to this responsibility, I will kill you. For Serenity, I ask this of you. If you throw away your title for this, that you pursue the life you want with the same drive that others have pursued the title of Hassan. You cannot falter. If this is the ideal that you gave your life over, it should be as strong as the life of a Hassan. 

Beruka. My condition for you is more difficult. I ask that, if you choose to make this life with Serenity in due time, that you give her the things that she want. I don't want Serenity to regret the decision she's made. That's all I ask of you, but it is a great burden. The burden of being someone's partner...it is stronger than most realize." 

Beruka nodded, but then spoke up once she thought of something. "Does this mean I am forced to be Serenity's? I don't know if I'm capable of being able to build a life with her. I've lived a very similar life, but I never had to desire to live anything other than that. What happens if I can't give Serenity the life she wants?" Beruka was a little more resolute now, but she still felt scared in front of the First Hassan. 

"I cannot force you to feel things that you do not feel. My opinion of things has changed with time. If you cannot do it, then it is not a reflection on the two of you. But, if you feel that you can, if you feel that you want to, be sure not to disappoint me. It would be fatal to do so." First Hassan stared at the two of them to see if they would agree. Both Serenity and Beruka nodded their heads. 

"King Hassan, pardon me but...your personality seems different. You seem more like a sage then when I last saw you." Serenity said, causing a small chuckle from King Hassan. 

"Don't assume things. I am still the King Hassan you once knew. If you had come to me before about this in your previous life, I would have killed you. There was no one for you to make that life with. Hence, it would have been a folly. However, since Beruka exists, there exists that possibility. Hence, I have spared you. If we meet again though, I will give judgment as the First Hassan. Now, do we have anything else to ask?" 

Beruka stepped forward. "Why am I the only one who is able to resist her poison? My poison resistance was considered the best in the army, but that is just something I developed over years of being an assassin. It shouldn't be at such an extraordinary level." 

King Hassan did not answer at first. The information that she wanted to know was potentially dangerous for her to know. Even though they were aware, to a point, of different worlds, they did not understand that even in their own world there was a multitude of different outcomes. Choices that were made differently. Even the presence of Serenity in this world has caused a massive shift in the balance. 

"You are a potential candidate for Assassin. That is why." King Hassan said nothing more on the matter as he faded away, a golden light enveloping him as he faded away into nothingness. He chose his words carefully, making Beruka unaware of the real truth to the situation. Even being a candidate for a Heroic Spirit did not necessarily meant you had enhanced powers. But to reveal the truth of the situation was something King Hassan felt unwise. 

"A candidate for Assassin, huh? Those are words of praise coming from King Hassan." Serenity said quietly as she clutched her wound, the pain flaring up. Beruka felt the pain in her legs growing steadily worse too. The fear and adrenaline that had been pumping through their bodies had made it so the pain felt dulled while King Hassan was there, but now that he vanished they were feeling it again. Beruka walked over to Serenity and took a look at the dressing covering her wound. She had managed to strike her on the left side of the abdomen, although miraculously not deep enough to hit any vital organs on the way in. However, the dressing was beginning to be soaked with blood and Serenity's poison, being a dark violet color. Beruka pressed on it slightly and it began to seep a little bit with blood. 

"Serenity, how do I get rid of the dressing? It's pretty much soaked with poison, so I can't just throw it away." Beruka begun to unwrap it anyways, knowing that keeping it would just do more harm than good. Serenity winced in pain as she looked over to Beruka. 

"You can burn them. The smoke won't be poisonous. I know that's a little hard to believe, but it had to have some way of being destroyed, otherwise no one could ever care for me. There should be a place where you can burn them nearby. I gave the same instructions to that maid." Beruka looked around for some place where could burn the cloth, and found a fire pit...with a number of black scorch marks around it. Beruka found it astonishing that she was clumsy enough with the fire to burn the ground around the pit to a crisp and not burn down the entire camp. Maybe she just didn't have enough time too. 

Beruka took the cloth and put it in the fire pit, lighting it aflame. The cloth slowly began to burn, and it seemed Serenity was right, as the only thing she could smell was the smell of burning blood. She quickly went back to Serenity and looked around the what was left of the tent to see if she could find anymore cloth to dress Serenity's wound. She wasn't quite sure how to do it, but she had a decent idea to at least stem the bleeding a little bit. But the issue was she couldn't find the dressing, no matter where she looked. 

Beruka felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around, seeing Corrin smiling while holding a roll of dressing in her hand. Beruka nodded and took it, checking to see if it was dirty or not. 

"Don't worry, its fresh. I made sure on it. Should I walk you back?" Corrin asked, but Beruka just looked over to the two beds and the heap of tarp next to it. 

"It's right over there Corrin. I'm sure I'll be fine." Beruka started walking to the medical "tent", Corrin following behind her. 

"Sorry I just don't know how you're doing. Talking to something like that. Are you sure you're okay, Beruka?" Corrin looked with concerned eyes at Beruka. If Beruka was feeling anything, she sure wasn't showing it. Not that she ever really did. 

"My legs still hurt, although I'm finding now that I can walk on them easier. As for King Hassan, I'm not really sure what to think. He was real and could have killed me at any time, but he didn't. So that is what is important at the end of the day. I'm alive." Beruka got to Serenity's bed and started to gingerly wrap the cloth around her wound. Serenity winced a bit, clearly in pain, but she seemed to intent on listening to their conversation. 

"You weren't scared talking to him though? It wasn't just how big he was, there was something else to him. He seemed so much larger than us. Than any of this." Beruka stared at Corrin like she was just stating the obvious. 

"Of course I was scared. It was talking to something that had the ability to kill you, no questions asked. Anyone would be scared of him. It's just a natural reaction. Where he fits into the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure." Serenity put her hand on Beruka's for a moment, looking at her. Serenity was tinged slightly with blush, while Beruka just stared at her, stoic and firm. 

"King Hassan is something like me. But he has the ability to independently manifest himself when he needs to. So he's something more than what I am. But I don't think we need to be worried about him anymore. At least, as long as we keep our word." Serenity looked down after that, staring at Beruka's hand. 

"S-a-y, Beruka. Can we do that kiss over again?" Serenity said coyly, and that was Corrin's cue to leave the two of them alone and do something else. Maybe she would considering having a cup of tea with Jacob, or something along those lines. Beruka tried to remain unchanging, but the question made her heart skip a beat. 

"Why for? Are you trying to make sure this time you kill me for real?" Beruka answered, displaying a sharp wit that she normally kept hidden. Serenity seemed like she was pouting a little bit, but pushed herself up and stared into Beruka's eyes. 

"No, Beruka. I want to give you a real kiss this time. If you don't feel anything after it, then I'll just have to wait longer to see if you come around. But if you do, I want you to give us a chance. Okay? Those are good terms right?" Serenity smiled. 

"I don't have any real reason to reject that, go a-hrmph". Serenity grabbed Beruka's head and brought it to hers, kissing her gently on the lips. She giggled a bit, before she went in more passionately. Serenity's hands ran through Beruka's hair, grasping at each individual strand of it as they kissed. For Beruka, it was a whirlwind of emotions all at once. She could smell Serenity's scent from being so close; a faint smell of lavender that was just strong enough to be noticeable. The taste of Serenity's lips, which tasted nothing like poison but some kind of wonderful taste that Beruka couldn't pin down. Her heart began to beat faster as Serenity held her in the embrace, her face beginning to flush. 

Serenity let go, distancing herself just enough so she could see Beruka's blushed face and giggled. 

"I guess you did feel something from that huh? So, what do you say? Can you give us a shot, Beruka?" Serenity blushed slightly. 

"Well...I guess if I can feel something from that, I might be able to do this. I'll try, Serenity." Serenity smiled before clutching her abdomen as her wound hurt again. Beruka quickly finished dressing it, the faintest of smiles touching her lips. 

'She was born and raised like I was. But she can clearly feel things. She has happiness, sadness, anger. So, there must be hope for me as well. Maybe I can learn to love.'


	6. Concern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a minor interlude for the fic, with a focus on Corrin / Saizo! I'm trash I can't help it.

After King Hassan left the camp, there seemed to be no discussion other than what had happened that day. Word got out that Serenity was indeed an assassin that was hired to kill Corrin, although her true origins were kept a secret in order to keep people from becoming more distrustful than normal. The reaction was mixed; some saw Serenity as a brave hero for defying Iago and allying herself with the person she was supposed to kill, while others felt that she couldn't be trusted at all and that she was going to sneak into Corrin's tent and kill her while Corrin wasn't paying attention. Even Beruka, by association, found herself under the distrustful gaze of many in the army who felt that she was working for Iago as well. Nobody took any action, in part because of the suspicion around Serenity's abilities and the very real idea of how skilled Beruka was in battle. 

Despite the fact that Corrin personally exonerated Serenity and Camilla stood up for Beruka, it was impossible to completely disquiet the rumors. There was a couple of people who seemed to be actively spreading them as well. Corrin was struck with indecision on what exactly to do about this, however. If she tried to squash out the rumors, she would be viewed as iron-fisted and it would make people lose morale and want to break away. On the other hand, if she did nothing about it, Corrin would be viewed as weak and overly trusting. It was a difficult situation to resolve. 

Corrin rubbed her temples as she took a sip of a weak wine in her tent. Adding to all of this was the fear that Iago would somehow summon another "ghost" or that King Hassan would return and kill either Serenity or Beruka, and likely, anyone who got in his way. Even though Serenity had lost most of her power, because of her poisonous body and extreme skill, she would be difficult for Corrin to defeat. If you added in the kind of power that Corrin felt when she saw King Hassan, another ghost like Serenity would be near impossible to defeat, and that meant Iago could have another extremely capable weapon in his hands. 

Corrin tried to think about it a little more when Saizo came into the tent. She couldn't hide the bottle of wine she was drinking, but tried to straighten herself out a little bit instead of seeming like she was trying to drink her issues away. 

"There's no need to worry Corrin. I know you don't drink anything strong enough to get drunk on. I watched you for quite a while after all." Saizo said as he sat down next to Corrin. She blushed slightly at how close he was, but she managed to smile and laugh a bit. 

"Sorry, Saizo. I've been stressed out lately and I didn't want you to get the wrong idea." Saizo reached over and gave Corrin a small kiss, a sign of affection that Corrin wasn't used to from the extremely professional Saizo. She blushed harder than before and took a swig from her bottle of wine, wanting to make sure that this was actually happening. 

"...is a display of affection really that out of place for me? I know I am stiff, but I did not think showing some affection for my wife was odd." Corrin gulped at the word "wife", still completely unused to the word. 

"Well, its just something I didn't expect, that was all. I liked it too..." Corrin flagged a little bit, but straightened herself again, "Also we're only engaged, should you be calling me your wife?" Corrin looked at Saizo, trying to save a little face, while he chuckled. 

"I guess you're right. Should I call you my fiancee instead, Corrin?" Corrin blushed again, although she nodded. 

"That would be more appropriate, after all. No one even knows we have that kind of relationship yet. But aside from that..." Corrin looked away a little bit, trying to think of what to say next. 

"It's about Serenity, isn't it?" Saizo said, causing Corrin to sigh a little bit. He was really good at seeing what was bothering her, even when she didn't try to show it. 

"Yes. All the rumors going around about her...I can't seem to find a way to set it all straight. I even told everyone that I didn't suspect her anymore and that she was working with us for now on. But it doesn't seem to have convinced anyone. They want action taken. Some of them want Serenity banished from the camp...others want something worse to happen to her. What am I supposed to do in order to convince everyone?" Corrin sighed again, Saizo nodding and thinking to himself about what could be done. 

"If you think about our situation, I didn't trust you at all when we first met. But you eventually proved your good intention through your deeds and your concern for everyone else. If Serenity did that, there wouldn't be any real concern for where her loyalties lie. But with her poison body, she's limited in what she can do. If she were to get in contact with anyone's armor or clothing, or food, she would kill them. The only thing she could really do is fight with us." Saizo explained, but Corrin shook her head. 

"Yeah, I agree, but that's not going to go over well. These people don't even want her around the camp. They aren't going to want her to fight with them. They already think she is going to stab them in the back." Corrin was getting agitated, pacing back and forth in the tent as she started to raise her voice. 

"Corrin, its best not to shout about this. However, I don't think any of the men will overly reject if she's made to fight. Even people like Oboro were able to put aside their grudges and fight alongside the Nohrians when they needed to. I believe that the same thing will come from Serenity and the others. If Serenity proves herself in battle, then the others will eventually come to trust her." Saizo explained as Corrin calmed down and sat back down. 

"I hope that's the case. But I don't think that we're going to have that chance. Ryoma and Hinoka have agreed to join us, but with Xander and Leo still against us, I'm not sure we could go up against the might of the Nohrian army. Even with someone as strong as Serenity is, she can still be attacked in a way where you don't have to make contact with her. Not to mention that Iago knows about her abilities, so he'll be prepared for her strategies." 

Saizo put a hand on Corrin's shoulder. "Whatever happens, happens. We will be prepared for anything that the enemy holds against us. There is no way I could allow us to lose and for you and Lord Ryoma to be ashamed." Saizo spoke with confidence, but Corrin couldn't tell whether he actually meant it or if it was just his usual hot-headedness getting ahead of him. 

"Thanks Saizo..." Corrin trailed off for a second, before she had her next thought, "but I am curious on one thing. I don't know what you think about Serenity now, Saizo. You've been quiet about your own opinions. You don't have to be, you know. I want your advice most of all." Corrin looked pleadingly at Saizo, and he sighed a bit, before taking off his mask. 

"Personally...I'm not really sure I trust her. I don't think that she's lying, but I think the main issue is her is that we don't know what kind of mental state she's in. She seems to be fine, but if what the First Hassan said was true, she could be mentally unstable. I don't know if she would be a liability in the future, especially if we end up having to fight Iago again." 

Corrin looked a little annoyed at that. "Are you sure that's exactly fair, Saizo? It's not like she's the first person to come into our came with a mental illness. Nyx is just as, if not more, depressed from her own life. No one doubts her ability to fight. No one thinks that someone could emotionally manipulate her. I think its only right that we treat Serenity the same way. Even if she fights Iago, she's stood up to him before." 

Saizo frowned as he embraced Corrin, wrapping his arms around Corrin. "I guess you're right. Sorry, Corrin. It's still hard for me to trust her." Corrin sighed as she looked up at Saizo. A pure smile came across her face as her heart beat aflutter. Corrin wondered for a moment what life would be like after the war, when she could build a life with Saizo. Would she be able to see the village where Saizo grew up and learned his skills? Would she find herself living close to the Hoshidan Royal family? Would they have children? 

Corrin felt Saizo's lips meet her, and she blushed as he drew her into a passionate kiss. Her mind felt like it was being washed away; all the anxiety and stress that she had been building up since Serenity came into the camp was being swept out by the torrent of love, pleasure, and anticipation now welling inside of her. She could feel Saizo's strong touch as she wrapped her arms around him. Even if there was a war going on outside, when she was with Saizo like this, she could forget about it, even if only briefly. 

The red-haired pegasus knight standing in the entrance of the tent had a small, but rather sly, smile on her face as she stared at the two of them, both of them somehow oblivious to her being there. She cleared her throat finally, causing both of them to look over. Saizo and Corrin immediately let go of each other, Saizo quickly grabbing his mask and putting it on. Hinoka laughed a bit as she watched the two of them act completely embarrassed. 

"Was I interrupting something?" Hinoka quipped as Corrin ran her hand through her hair, trying to calm herself as much as possible. She could still feel her heart beating out of her chest. Saizo, on the other hand, seemed to be completely calm and collected, but Corrin was able to see through him somewhat and knew that he was just as embarrassed as she was.

"No, you weren't really interrupting anything, Hinoka. But...could I ask that you keep this a secret from everyone else? No one really knows about the two of us and with everything going on right now I'd rather not let any other rumors start spreading around camp." Corrin was still rather flush, but Hinoka smiled, this time a little more sincerely and without a trace of teasing in it. Corrin figured that she should probably be thankful that it was Hinoka and not Camilla who walked in; she would have dealt with a never-ending torrent of teasing from the latter. 

"Yeah, I can do that, Corrin. I'm sure Saizo would rather the details of his personal life not be spread around the camp either. But, I have important news, for the both of you now, I guess." Hinoka sat at the table and put down a detailed map of the Bottomless Canyon in front of them. Corrin and Saizo didn't doubt how much of this information came from Hinoka's own scouting. She would sometimes risk her life to make sure that she knew the terrain of a battlefield before the army would advance on it, even when she was against Corrin. 

"Right now, some of my pegasus knights have reported some sort of activity around the edges of the canyon. No one really knows what it is, but they would see bushes rustling and footprints in the dirt and that nature. Right now it seems to be that about one-hundred enemies have set themselves around the canyon. My guess is that might be trying to trap us in and ambush us." 

"How is that so, Hinoka? The only way to really cross the canyon is via bridge, and it would be difficult for even snipers to hit people on those bridges. I highly doubt that an ambush would be an effective tactic to use in that situation." Saizo nodded, having done missions to the area before. While getting to the Bottomless Canyon was tough, it could be used as a fortified position, since it was difficult to traverse. The bridges were in disrepair however, which meant that no one power really made any attempt to take the area, except for very recently. 

"It's difficult to say for certain, but my guess is they will probably try to ambush us as we are getting onto the bridges. The area has seen some more activity than the rest. But like I said, we really don't know what is going on. It could just be animal movements most of the time." Saizo shook his head however. 

"That's unlikely. Not much lives in that area. For your pegasus knights to find something out of the ordinary, it would be difficult to conclude it wasn't troop movements. But Corrin is still right, that's a tough place to ambush anyone. Unless Nohr has some kind of military technology no one has heard about, an ambush would be only moderately effective." Corrin didn't know what to make of the situation. This might mean that Nohr was moving to advance as well, but the Bottomless Canyon was a very large landmark, and Nohrian armies hadn't been spotter for most of it.

"That's the odd thing though. This activity isn't just near where we would advance. It's all down the canyon. We have some leeway in checking out the entire canyon, just to be sure, and we have odd activity even in places where it should be completely impossible to attack us. It's possible they're just covering their bases, but it seems like really poor strategy to me." 

Corrin looked at the map with more intent. There was a number of places marked on the map: places that were close to the likely location they would approach the canyon, and places that were very far away. Getting there even on horseback would take time and this activity seemed to be pretty recently. 

"Hinoka, how long is this a sum of? I'm not really sure we can really take some of this into account. It just seems to be too far-fetched." 

Hinoka responded immediately. "This is the sum of activity for at about five days. I've had my pegasus knights casing the entire canyon, and I've been out myself a couple of times. I don't doubt the reports, but it just seems to be completely scatterbrained. Maybe Garon has finally gone insane or something." Everyone in the room was concerned about what this could mean. If they really were looking at an ambush, it would mean that they would have to act with a lot more caution when approaching the canyon, and there was still no word on what Xander or Leo were doing. She couldn't see her older brother planning on ambushing her like this, nor Leo. 

"The skies are just starting to change, and more importantly, we are starting to run a little low on supplies. I think it would be best to immediately advance on the canyon. If there is an ambush waiting for us, acting immediately might throw a wrench into things. Hinoka, spread the word around camp. We're moving." 

Hinoka nodded, got up, and left the tent. There would immediately be sounds of packing up and people preparing themselves for the battle ahead. To think there wouldn't be one was wishful thinking. Even if Xander and Leo would decide not to fight them, there was King Garon and the likely now angry Iago to contend with. They would not only want to snuff her out, but defeated Hoshido in one broad stroke. 

"Don't worry Corrin. It is okay to be nervous, but don't let it get to you. Don't let that determination that brought us here waver now."


	7. Ambush

The plan, at least on the surface, seemed to be simple. The Hoshidan army that had been gathered with Ryoma and Hinoka would launch a diversionary attack on the Nohrian army, long enough to make sure that Corrin had reached the place she wanted too. A small Hoshidan escort of pegasus knights and samurai would accompany them. Corrin's army would split into two parts: the first part was made up of the most trusted and the strongest in the army and they would press inwards with the escort. The other group would guard the entrance and would eventually meet up with the Hoshidan army to help them fend off the Nohrians. 

Beruka and Serenity were not anxious as they marched towards the mouth of the Bottomless Canyon. The skies were beginning to rapidly change now, something Serenity took quite a delight too, as she had personally never witnessed such a phenomenon in her lifetime. Beruka hadn't either, but she really didn't share Serenity's enthusiasm on the matter. She was focusing her mind on the battle ahead, when she heard a familiar roar behind her. Serenity turned around, grabbing a dirk as she saw something she had never expected to see coming towards them. 

A wyvern. A wyvern to Serenity was an immensely dangerous and wild beast, only second to a dragon. It was considered to be an immense rarity that someone would be able to ride one of them, and so Serenity first though that this was a wild wyvern attacking them. She was going to pull out her dirk when she noticed that a couple more were also descending on the army, something that she had never heard of wyverns doing. Even though they weren't quite dragons, wyverns still had pride and attacking as a pack was strange. One of them landed next to Beruka and shrieked loudly. A small smile came to Beruka's face as she stroked its neck, the wyvern enjoying it as a little bit of smoke came from its nostrils. 

"Wait, Beruka, you can ride a wyvern?!" Serenity shouted in disbelief. Beruka simply nodded as she slipped the wyvern a strip of meat, the wyvern grabbing it voraciously before swallowing the meal. 

"Yes. I'm not sure why that's such a surprise. My battle armor is standard fare for a wyvern rider." Beruka got up on her wyvern, seeing still that Serenity was stunned by the sight of it. The beautiful Beruka on a just as beautiful beast. The wyvern itself did look different from the ones that Serenity had seen once. They seemed to be a little more like a lizard and flew in a more horizontal fashion. In addition, she had never heard of a wyvern of any kind being able to breathe fire. 

"Beruka...I...where I come from, simply being to ride a wyvern is something that is on par with legend. It's just...shocking to me. To think that you're able to do something so amazing!" Serenity looked like a small kid in front of the wyvern. Beruka could tell that she really, really wanted to touch it. To rub on its skin. To feel its wings. The feel the weight in its breath. Beruka didn't know if wyverns were immune to poison, but she knew that Serenity would not want to risk it. 

"Beruka! Does...umm...it have a name!? I would love to know what its called!" Serenity shouted, apparently not aware that Beruka could still hear her fine since they were on the ground. Beruka thought on this a little bit. She didn't know if her wyvern did have a name. She had certainly never given it one, and she didn't know if Camilla had given it a name either. 

"She doesn't have a name, actually. I've never given her one." Beruka replied, making Serenity stop for a minute. 

"It doesn't have a name? Oh come on Beruka, we have to give it one! This is the first wyvern I've even seen up close!" Serenity hopped with joy again as Beruka chuckled a bit. Seeing her like this...it definitely seemed to be somewhat cute to her. Beruka didn't really have any names for the wyvern, however, so she wondered if Serenity had any. 

"I think you should name it, Serenity. I'm not very good with that kind of thing, personally." Serenity looked up at Beruka. 

"Are you sure? I don't want to take that privilege away from you, Beruka. It would be an honor to name a creature so beautiful as this." Beruka simply nodded, and Serenity began to think on what would be an appropriate name for it. She surely knew of many dragons because of her summoning as a heroic spirit, but when she thought back on her own life, she realized that dragons and wyverns had pretty much faded from the world. Even the wyverns she saw were just fleeting glimpses and there wasn't really any legends she could remember in particular.

Except one. When she was made Hassan, they at the time had some control over the region formerly known as Babylonia. She had heard tales of the beast known as the mušḫuššu, or the "fierce snake". Of these, there was one in particular she had heard of on one of her assassination missions. The beast Bashmu. She knew some things about it: it was one of the monsters that Tiamat had created and ate all manner of creatures, including men. There was even a constellation devoted to it in the sky. 

She didn't know if it was appropriate to give a wyvern that name, since the Bashmu was more than just a mere wyvern. But she genuinely couldn't think of anything else to name it, and besides, it was highly unlikely that Bashmu existed in this world as well to judge her. 

"Bashmu. It was the name of a truly fearsome monster that existed in times before the Hassans were even founded. A time when the world was truly close to things like magic and myth. It would be a fine name to give to your wyvern. The two of you cannot be anything but fearsome together." Serenity suggested, and, curiously, the wyvern seemed to make some noise akin to a cat purring, although it was deeper and sounded more like a grumble. But it seemed to be pleased with the name, which Beruka was surprised by. 

"I didn't know that it was in want of a name. I should apologize to it...I mean Bashmu, later." Beruka took into the air to get a better look at her surroundings. She saw Serenity staring at her with a smile on her face, awestruck by the power of Bashmu. Beruka looked away from Serenity to look at the battle field. She could see, off in the distance, the Hoshidan and Nohrian armies already beginning to fight. It was a tough advance for them, since it still required crossing the canyon at its very southernmost part, but that part had been considerably more developed than the rest, due to it being one of the main trading routes between the two nations. This meant that they were to begin their advance. 

The escort of pegasus knights that had been prepared immediately took the skies, soaring high above even Beruka as they performed reconnaissance in the canyon. At first, things were extremely odd. There was no one in the canyon, it seemed, although they couldn't tell since there was a lot of thick forests which could obscure troops. But even so, the complete lack of any troop presence was chilling. It looked like a loaded trap. They began to descend back into the valley towards the camp, when the straggler of the group thought she saw something to her right. A glint of light. It was at the top of the valley, where they had thought they had seen some movement previously. But she ignored it, thinking it might have been a trick to the eyes. 

Beruka was watching as well, but from her vantage point she couldn't she anything. If there was enemies there, they were extremely well hidden. The leader of the pegasus knights began to descend, having confirmed that there was no enemy troops ahead of them. As she motioned for her pegasus to begin to descend, there was once again movement from top of the valley. She halted her pegasus, but by the time she could react, it simply was too late. 

A storm of black dirks shot at the pegasus knights, hitting the pegasi in the soft places between their armor as easily as a trained archer hitting a practice target. One by one the pegasi dropped out of the sky. Beruka yelled at Bashmu to descend, and it did quickly, a dirk barely missing the membrane of its wing as it dropped like a rock towards Corrin's army. Beruka braced herself as Bashmu landed hard on the ground, determined to get away from whatever enemy was attacking them.

Corrin ran up to Beruka, flustered. A pegasus dropped next to her, being hit by multiple dirks. Many of them had hit its head, and the rider also was hit by a dirk to the neck, having been killed very quickly. The entire pegasus escort had been annihilated extremely quickly. 

"Beruka, what happened up there!? What attacked us!?" Corrin shouted. Beruka shook her head. 

"I don't know. Everything was clear, and then they were attacked on all sides by something. They were hit with throwing weapons, but at that distance it should have been impossible to hit as accurately as they did." Beruka stated plainly, and Serenity, having come up to the two of them, overheard. 

"There's only one possibility, Beruka. It's a Hassan. Iago summoned another Hassan. That shouldn't be possible." Serenity looked up to the top of the canyon. She wasn't able to see anything from the ground, and figured she might have been able to if she got into the air with Bashmu, but that would put Bashmu at risk of being killed. 

"They might be preparing another attack. We have to be ready and fortify our defenses." Beruka said curtly. Serenity perked up as she realized what was going on. 

"So its that Hassan...in which case, we need to protect ourselves and move. I imagine that some of the hundred have already started to move closer to use in order to gain an advantage," Serenity said. looking back at the canyon walls, "For a Hassan to attack another...!"

"That Hassan? Which one, Serenity?" Corrin asked, and Serenity nodded. 

"The Hassan of the Hundred Faces. He had a hundred personalities, and its said he could alter his body or even split up into multiple bodies...but I don't know much about him. He was a Hassan after I had died. I'm not sure how dangerous he is...I'm sorry." Serenity was stoic and spoke dryly. Her instincts as an assassin were in full force; telling her to get out of there. 

"Alright, in that case, we need to advance as quickly as possible. Beruka, don't take to the skies. I'm going to tell the remaining pegasus and wyvern knights to do the same as well. It will be difficult, but we cannot lose anyone else. Then, we will advance-"

"Corrin, look out!" Saizo launched a large shuriken at a dark figure that had suddenly moved towards her with a sickle in its hand. The shuriken was deflected by the figure, which was a cloaked man with a skull mask stapled to its face. He laughed loudly before jumping in the air, bringing his scythe down on Corrin. She quickly drew her sword and deflected the attack, but the man swung at her again. The scythe met flesh, but when Corrin looked, the scythe hadn't hit her. Saizo, having grabbed the scythe, was struggling with the attack as the scythe was buried into his upper right arm. Blood was pouring from the wound, and Saizo was struggling with the pain before Serenity grabbed the attacker's head. The attacker looked at her for a moment, before beginning to choke. He fell to the ground, blood trickling from his mouth. 

"Saizo! Are you okay!?" Corrin screamed, trying to remove the scythe from his arm. Saizo pushed her away though. 

"Don't worry about me, Corrin. I'll be fine. We have to be alert of other assailants in the area." Just as Saizo spoke those words, though, there was a scream from another direction. A large man was attacking Effie as she was trying to retreat away. While his skin color and clothing were similar, he was extremely large for a human with impossibly bigger forearms. He was battering her with his massive fists, putting dents in her shield and armor as the force of the blows was causing her to begin to tire and buckle. The man landed a blow right in the middle of her breastplate, causing blood to spurt from her mouth as she fell down to the ground. 

The extremely large man went to make the finishing blow, but was barraged by a series of arrows. He turned around, before Charlotte planted an axe in the middle of his face, causing the man to fall over head. Charlotte rushed over to Effie to see if she was okay, but the sound of fighting was heard all around them: Ryoma deflected the attack of another Hassan, before cutting it in two. Nyx and Hayato performed a massive magical attack on a group of Hassan, causing them to disperse. They had walked straight into an ambush that they couldn't even see.

A rain of dirks came down from the sky, peppering the battlefield. Several of Corrin's soldiers were hit, but none of the wounds were fatal. It was quickly becoming a losing battle, as they were being attacked from all directions. Takumi shot down one Hassan with his bow, before two more appeared from the shadows and rushed them. One of them was stabbed by Oboro, but the other Hassan retaliated and stabbed her in the abdomen with his spear, causing her to fall over. There was no time to heal the wounded, who were left on the ground. 

Serenity fought off two Hassan, gracefully moving around them as she tried to kick and grab them to subject them to her poison. The Hassan dodged her attacks, but in keeping their focus on her, forgot about Beruka, who decapitated one of them with her axe. As the Hassan fell, Beruka was suddenly slammed in the back of the head by another abnormally large Hassan, falling over unconscious. Serenity rushed to help her, running to her side and grabbing the Hassan by the throat before releasing him as he succumbed to the poison. She tried to revive Beruka, but she was also hit in the back of the head and fell over. She tried to right herself, but was struck again, finally going unconscious. 

"...Really, that Iago. Making us round up these two instead of just exterminating Corrin's army...what exactly is he playing at?" The Hassan said as he picked up Beruka, looking at the other one who was busy layering herself. 

"Make sure you cover every inch! If any of the poison comes in contact with you, you're as good as dead." 

"I know, Zayd. Just let me do it!" The female Hassan looked irritated, but after covering herself up, she picked up Serenity carefully. The two Hassans looked at each other before starting to walk off, when a shuriken struck Zayd in the shoulder. He hissed before looking back to see who it was. 

"What do you think you're doing with them?" Saizo said as he prepared another shuriken with his left arm. His right arm, while dressed, was still bleeding, and Saizo struggled a bit to stand up. Zayd laughed a bit, before using his off hand to quickly pull a dirk from his cloak and swing it at Saizo. He had almost no time to react as the dirk hit him in the chest, causing him to groan and fall down. Zayd grunted as he took the shuriken out of his shoulder before walking off with Beruka, the female Hassan carrying Serenity away with him.


End file.
